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Leonardo DiCaprio finally struck gold at the 2016 Oscars on Sunday (28Feb16) as he was named Best Actor for The Revenant.

The 41-year-old, who has been nominated for five acting Oscars to date, earned his first Academy Award for his role as real-life fur trapper Hugh Glass in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's survival thriller, and he paid a warm tribute to his film collaborators as he stepped up onstage.

"Thank you all so very much...," Leonardo said. "To my brother in this endeavor, (co-star) Tom Hardy. Tom, your fierce talent onscreen can only be surpassed by your friendship offscreen.

"To Mr. Alejandro Inarritu, as the history of cinema unfolds, you have forged your way into history in these past two years; what an unbelievable talent you are..."

The Revenant, which led all nominees with 12 heading into Hollywood's Dolby Theater ceremony, also saw Inarritu take home Best Director for the second consecutive year, after previously winning the 2015 title for Birdman.

However, they lost out on the top prize of Best Picture to Spotlight, which details the Boston Globe's 2002 expose on the child molestation scandal which rocked the city's Catholic church. The journalism drama landed Best Original Screenplay, too.

Room's Brie Larson emerged victorious as Best Actress, while the Best Supporting Actor accolade went to Mark Rylance for the Bridge of Spies, and Alicia Vikander claimed the Best Supporting Actress prize for The Danish Girl.

It was also a big night for George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, which emerged a six-time winner, virtually cleaning up in the technical categories, including Best Film Editing and Best Production Design.

Musical performances came from rocker Dave Grohl, who sang an acoustic cover of Paul McCartney's Blackbird during the annual In Memoriam segment, and Best Song nominees The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, and eventual winner Sam Smith, who was praised for Writing's on the Wall from James Bond movie Spectre.

Meanwhile, ceremony host Chris Rock addressed the Oscars' diversity issue head on, opening the show by quipping, "Well, I'm here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People's Choice Awards!" He continued to joke about the controversy throughout the show, where guest presenters included Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Sofia Vergara, Charlize Theron, and Whoopi Goldberg.